"Go Big or Go Home" had to accomplish a lot in around 22 minutes of air time. It had to get both potential new viewers and old ones who haven't seen the show in a while up to speed on the budget crisis storyline, on the various couples (Ann/Chris), triangles (April/Andy/Ann) and quadrangles (Ron/Wendy/Tom/Lucy), and on the world of Pawnee. It had to set up the season's big story arc with Leslie's plan for the Harvest Festival.

And most importantly - particularly given the potentially much bigger audience it got tonight thanks to the new timeslot - it had to be funny.

And I think the episode checked off all the boxes with relative ease. It was a smart, assured, funny reminder of just how well this show was clicking when it went off the air last spring (which is when these first few episodes were made).

I'm a sucker for a good gathering-of-the-team sequence, and I thought this was a beaut, quickly and easily conveying Leslie's unbridled, dorky enthusiasm (also well-captured by her "Breaks over, mofos!" yell a few scenes later), Ron's combination of rugged manliness and apathy, Tom's horndog con man qualities and, of course, everyone's lack of appreciation for the many talents of Jerry. (Leslie hurling his painting into the lake - like she was doing him a favor - was the first of many big laughs this one provided.) We were reminded just how simple Andy is with him leaving his 200th unreturned message with April ("If you're trying to tell me something, I do not know what it is because you will not call me back"), Chris and Ben's roles as good cop/bad cop, etc. All nice and simple, with a lot of jokes peppered throughout the opening moments.

And then... and then we got Ron Effing Swanson putting on the Bobby Knight sweater to coach a kids basketball team and introduce the world to the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness. I'll leave it to the internet to dissect the various items and the levels on which they were placed (one of my favorites: "Facial hair: if you have to sculpt it, that probably means you can't grow it"), but the idea alone was wonderful. And they took the Knight gag to its natural conclusion by having Ron get so mad at Tom (who was not only acting out of jealousy but clearly knew nothing about the game and was only reffing because he still had the Foot Locker uniform) that he threw a chair across the court, Knight-style. Perfection.

But Ron being both awesome and hilarious is something that Nick Offerman and these writers (in this case, Alan Yang) can do in their sleep by now. What impressed me most about "Go Big or Go Home" was the work it did with Ann and Chris.

Rashida Jones makes a splendid straight woman. We saw that on "The Office," we've seen it on this show, in "I Love You, Man," etc. (Part of what makes her so effective in "The Social Network" is how her calmness contrasts with all the film's tightly-wound characters.) And last year the show made a mistake (one of its few that season) in putting Ann into a relationship with Mark, the other token straight man. (Good idea for a real couple, boring for a sitcom.) But we've also seen glimpses that she can be quite funny when called upon, like in last year's episode where Ann took Leslie on the practice date from hell. And being around Rob Lowe's Chris has brought out the comedic best in Jones, from her dead-on Lowe impression to her reaction when Leslie first revealed that the date had been a scam and then tried to blame it all on her.

Beyond that, the scene where Chris explains the childhood origins of his relentlessly positive attitude to Ann was just marvelous. Simple, sweet, sincerely played by Lowe and Jones, and something that gives the writers license to make Chris as ridiculous as they want him to be - say, for instance, him weeping at Leslie's speech about the Harvest Festival - because the behavior is always going to be grounded in that story. (Similarly, anytime Chris' positivity seems so extreme that you wonder why Ann isn't scared off, you'll be able to think on her reaction in that moment.)

Beyond that, we got a heavy dose of "Parks and Rec" continuity, but in a way that I can't imagine was off-putting for the newcomers. Leslie takes the gang to The Bulge, which is funny whether or not you've seen the season two premiere (and she summarizes that for Ben, just in case), we discover that April went to Venezuela (a callback to "Sister City"), Ben again mentions his history as a teenage mayor, etc.

A very fine start to the strong run you're about to see the show go on, and I haven't even made mention of Tom's specific foul calls ("Foul on Number Three for Taking a Number Two on Number Four") or Andy's coaching style, or Leslie and Ann's debate about sexy foods.

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Comments

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I loved it! I just started watching Parks & Rec over the last few weeks, after initially being turned off by its awkward start in season 1. It just might be my favorite comedy now. Ron Swanson is the greatest, and ensemble really clicks, and I love the additions of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe.

My goal this season was to watch P&R more regularly instead of the every once in a while I had been doing. I already watch quite a few NBC Thursday sitcoms so I knew it'd be easy.

This was a very enjoyable and funny episode. My only disagreement is in relation to Rob Lowe's Chris. I didn't enjoy him quite as much as you did. I found it hard to relate to his over-the-topness even if it was great to see Anne react to it.

I feel the show did far better introducing Adam Scott's Ben. I hadn't seen him in anything before (I know I know, I need to see Party Down) but I see why you gave him such raves for his previous work. I think having someone like him is the perfect foil for Leslie because ultimately, given their political ambitions, they probably understand one another.

Paused the show to try and read the entire pyramid. Wife notices that Skim Milk is on their twice. The 1st Skim Milk says, "Avoid it." The 2nd Skim Milk says, "That's right it's on here twice. Avoid it." We couldn't stop laughing.

Alan, I'm really disappointed you didn't like Mark and Anne together. I thought it helped keep Mark's character relevant for a while and seeing him grow into someone who wanted to be a relationship was funn.

I liked Mark as a character, just as I've liked Ann. I just thought it was a poor use of resources to put them together, when what was most interesting about them was seeing how they reacted to the stranger people in the ensemble.

Mark and Anne were awful together and they are awful characters to begin with. Thankfully Mark is gone. With Ann, I know nothing about her background except apparently she needs to be with a man at all times like she's J-Lo. In fact, we don't even know anything about her foreground either. Almost every scene with her has Leslie being crazy around her. I don't even get why she likes Leslie to begin with.

Matt, it's a reference to the character played by Moira Kelly in season 1 of the West Wing. Mandy was written out after the first season and all plot lines involving the character were dropped. Her character was never referenced ever again, and no explanation was given as to why she disappeared. Fans have since called the place to which not-so-popular characters are banished as "Mandyville."

Schneider's gone from the credits, so yeah. I just watched Season One, and it was interesting how his character was transformed from a kind of creepy horndog to Mr. Boring.Now to Mr. Gone.

Did anyone else hear echoes of The West Wing in Leslie's "break's over (mofo's)?" Bartlet made a typically windy "break's over" speech early in season one of The West Wing (maybe even in the premiere?)

the writers have said he's based on a real guy they met doing research, who was in small government, got frustrated, left, and returned. and then maybe quit again in a sort of cycle. one would assume this means brendanawicz will return should the show's run provide ample time for such plotting.

Smiling so big right now. I only got caught up on what I'd been missing in October or so and the wait has felt like an eternity; I can only imagine how bad it's been for you folks who watched last season as it aired. I must say, though, the wait was worth it. My only complaint: I need more April sarcasm (and sometimes glee) in my life, but I understand, it was a busy episode.

Yeah, that was not what I was expecting. It was much more like season 1 than season 2. Frantically trying to be funny and setting up the harvest festival as sort of the new pit in a way. The problem is the show didn't stop sucking till they started season 2 and slowed down and let us explore and get to like the world they had created. Now they seem to be backsliding to the failed tactics of earlier on. Didn't work for me. But there were some bright spots, notably Aubrey Plaza's scenes and the running gag of poor Jerry.

Also didn't like Rashida Jones having to play a love interest to a guy old enough to be her dad. I don't really think the two new guys fit in to the show very well.

Note: I'm aware that most here seem to have loved it and that's cool. I'd like it to stick around regardless of whether it's one of my favorites. We need more comedy and fewer cop/lawyer/doctor shows.

Yep. After I wrote the above (which as often happens probably came off as a little more negative than I feel) I looked them up on imdb. The age gap isn't as horrible as I thought, he just looks really worn for his age, more like 55 and I thought she was around 29ish.

Somehow, this has totally become Rob Lowe's show. I know he's not the central character in a crowded and satisfying ensemble, and that his character is actually an intense perversion of Leslie's optimism, but the show lights up when he's on screen. Pointing at people and cheerfully saying their full names has gone from gag to satisfying emotional expression to something I cannot stop doing in the real world.

As much as I love seeing Adam Scott, his presence mostly makes me miss "Party Down."

Am I the only one that straight up hates Rob Lowe's character? How is saying people's names over and over again funny? Everything he says feels shallow and insincere. His perkiness seems unbelievably forced and it makes him come off as a psychopath. Parks and Recreation is the only show I watch on broadcast television, but if his character keeps destroying every scene he's in I might have to give it up. God damn it, I loved this show so much last season, too.

I saw the Detlef episode but can't remember anything about it. If they made his character "this" clueless, I will credit them for staying consistent. But it still doesn't feel right. He seems like the type that would throw on a Kobe jersey watch the Finals and be all alpha-male with his comments.

And even if you disagree with that, hasn't the "knows nothing about sports" joke been beaten to death. Mom's calling Home runs "touchdowns" and vice versa.

Final complaint (and yes, I know I'm nitpicking), but how does one absorb the word "double dribble" and yet not realize it's only for the offense. That's not a common word that a non sports fan would be privy to.

I guess I'll never quite get it; I went into this one very positively, but I just don't think it's particularly funny or the chatacters particularly relateable. If's certainly good - I got a nice chuckle out of Aziz Ansari's Foot Locker uniform doubling as a ref jersey, and the scene between Amy Poehler and Adam Scott at Bulge was incredibly charming. But I justmust not be on the same wavelength as this show cause I don't get all the hooplah.

I don't want to be that totally negative bummer - it pains me that this show doesn't make me laugh that much. I think if I keep reading your comments your joy will rub off on me.

This show makes me so happy. Loved seeing Adam Scott and Rob Lowe in the opening credits. So much greatness: the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness, the Bobby Knight sweater, Andy as coach, all the Jerry digs, "Ann Perkins," "Ice Town Costs Ice Clown His Town Crown," Chris crying at the end. Can't wait for more.

I think I laughed the hardest at Chris' crying at the end (among many other laughs in this episode), so I'm glad the new guys are working out. (Adam Scott I thought would fit in well, and I really love his chemistry with Lowe and Poehler, so yay, but I wasn't sure about Lowe. But I love it!)

I think I laughed the hardest at Chris' crying at the end (among many other laughs in this episode), so I'm glad the new guys are working out. (Adam Scott I thought would fit in well, and I really love his chemistry with Lowe and Poehler, so yay, but I wasn't sure about Lowe. But I love it!)

Chris' childhood story also lends another dimension to the bit about him believing he will be "that human being" who will live to 150 or whatever. I'm sure that's why they included it in the previouslies. I gotta say, I was falling for Traeger right along with Anne Perkins.

Just awesome to have this show back, and getting the great press it deserves! When the creators of the Office pitched a show starring Amy Poheler, almost identical concept to the Office, I was worried it would be too similar. But, P+R has its own incredibly talented cast + writers, I think it is certain to outlast its predecessor.

I'm so happy to have the return of Parks and Rec! It was a great episode and Ron Effing Swanson killed me with laughter. Only caveat...Rob Lowe. I'm not feeling his character at all and I think P & R would be better without his overly optimistic attitude. It's a little much.

I agree with you completely. The second season worked precisely because they toned down the Leslie caricature, and now they just went and shot themselves in the foot. I think everybody that laughs at him saying "Ann Perkins!" over and over are being really short-sighted. That gag is already painfully unfunny... can you put up with a whole season of it and, at least in my case, repeated viewings of the season? Replay value diminishes every second he's on screen.

And the actual episode itself was fantastic. I am so impressed with how well Schur and Daniels integrated the new characters into the cast-- Adam Scott's dance moves and Rob Lowe's tears were my favorite parts of the episode. Also, as someone obsessed with Jerry's murinal in "The Camel," I was thrilled to see another gag about his artistic efforts.

It's great to have the show back. I loved the Swanson pyramid. The best line from that scene was saying that it was ok to catch fish, but you shouldn't eat them since they're basically a vegetable. Rob Lowe really won me over. My only complaint was the handling of Andy and April. This felt like such a cliche putting in a roadblock to their relationship. There had to be a better way than having her show up with this hunk who won't last.

I remember on this blog last year, there was a lot of complaining (including from me) about how long they stretched out the Andy/April romance and sexual tension. I felt it was too long. But as long as there are some laughs in the process, Andy trying to woo April has potential for a while.